Elections a qualitative step forward on political reform path — King

Following is the official translation of the Royal Letter of Designation sent on Sunday from His Majesty King Abdullah to Prime Minister Hani Mulki:

Your Excellency Dr Hani Mulki,
Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon you,

I am pleased to convey to you my greetings, wrapped in cordiality and respect. Moreover, I would like to express deep appreciation for the sincere and diligent efforts exerted by yourself and your colleague ministers in serving our beloved Jordan throughout the past four months. These efforts were manifested in the government’s support towards the success of the electoral process, which deepened our democratic path.

Your ongoing efforts were also evident in the follow-up and execution of responsibilities outlined in the previous Letter of Designation to you, as well as directly engaging local communities in an effort to advance development, build on achievements and provide practical solutions to several challenges.

As I accept your Cabinet’s resignation following the achievements made, I hereby designate you to form a new government to continue fulfilling the national responsibilities outlined in the previous Letter of Designation, carrying on with the same spirit and approach you have been demonstrating. Moving forward, the government should focus on a set of priorities addressed in this letter.

The recently concluded legislative elections will provide, God willing, a qualitative step forward on the political reform path we have adopted. We hope that this step will elevate parliamentary action. It is, therefore, essential to cement a working relationship between the government and the legislature based on cooperation, positive attitude and harmonious synergy, while avoiding attempts towards domination, hindrance and unconstructiveness. The realisation of this goal requires that you continuously cooperate and coordinate with the National Assembly according to the principles of separation of powers, mutual respect and public responsibility. This spirit will allow you to assume your executive responsibilities, and the National Assembly its oversight and legislative role competently.

Elections for municipal and local councils, set to take place next year, constitute a major and crucial step in Jordan’s political reform path. Accordingly, all forms of needed support must be provided to the Independent Election Commission. Moreover, proper and precise preparations must be in place to ensure the successful execution of this national milestone — aimed at enhancing citizens’ participation in decision making on both the political and developmental levels.

Municipal and local councils will lessen the load of service-related responsibilities assumed by members of the House of Deputies. They also contribute to increasing political participation in public life, deepening democracy and enabling citizens to have a say in decisions that directly impact their lives. Indeed, citizens are best equipped to determine their local communities’ needs and the best way to address them.

Your Excellency,

Boosting our economy tops our national priorities. Accordingly, it is essential to continue with economic reform programmes and efforts to develop the economy and realise our national goals. It is also important to advance and deliver specific well-planned laws, policies and measures that enhance the competitiveness of the economy, attract investments, facilitate their success and limit unconducive red tape. These efforts are needed in order to generate jobs, maintain financial and fiscal stability, narrow budget deficit, lower the debt-to-GDP ratio, increase growth rates and achieve sustainable development.

It is important that such efforts are based on the Jordan Vision 2025 and to further build on it, as it provides a general integrated framework for socio-economic policies. It is equally important to continue executing recommendations agreed upon with the Economic Policies Council — a step recently implemented with the adoption of the council’s latest set of recommendations.

Swift programmes and measures that will be operationalised to boost the national economy and your ability to deliver results in this vital domain remain a national priority that has our utmost attention. These efforts must seek to achieve a fair distribution of developmental gains amongst different governorates. They should also provide means of economic resilience and growth to the middle class — a vital social cohort that guarantees social stability and progress.

The government must continue executing developmental and productive programmes on the local levels across all governorates. In doing so, it must pursue a sustainable developmental approach and increase the support provided for small and micro projects led by entrepreneurial youth in the governorates. It should support the country’s business environment and focus on attracting foreign and Arab investments as well as supporting national investments.

It is important that the government uphold the approach of directly assessing citizens’ needs and examining the level of public services. This approach is a fundamental aspect of government work and a factor of success for its plans to provide adequate services to citizens. This will allow citizens to sense the most important goal for the government, ministers and officials — that they are dedicated to serve the public and address the challenges they face within available means without hesitation and inefficiency.

Your Excellency,

A fair, just and capable judiciary is a cornerstone for realising our national goals. Government cooperation with the judiciary must, therefore, continue in order to ensure that it is provided with all the support it needs to pursue its vital responsibilities with utmost competence.

It is important to continue bolstering rule of law and protecting the values of justice, equality, equal opportunity and fighting nepotism and favouritism. The government must continue reforming the public sector through administrative reforms that allow capable administrative leaderships to lead change, building on comprehensive economic, political, social and administrative reform efforts. Connected to these endeavours is the completion of the e-government project  and pursuing energy diversification schemes, as well as other mega projects in the water and transportation sectors. 

The government should also continuously work to raise the standards of services provided to citizens, and improve the performance of the public sector and reform it through well-studied measures. The government should ensure that the National Integrity Charter and the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Law are translated into practices on the ground as far as the daily operations of government entities and public services are concerned. The impact of such measures should be felt by citizens. 

Education, in its different phases, remains a vital public service that impacts the future of Jordan and every citizen. Attempts to hinder developing and modernising education or to obstruct our efforts to better equip future generations and enhance the quality of the educational system and its components will not be tolerated. The empowerment of Jordanian youth and their inclusion in the development process should be at the centre of government efforts. Moreover, women’s participation in all aspects of public life should be increased in a manner that fulfils our ambitions and our society’s aspirations.

In regards to tackling unemployment, it is important to advance our human resources by ensuring integration between the recommendations of the National Human Resources Committee and the National Employment Strategy, as the latter depends on the former. 

Moreover, you should continue with implementing strategies and adopting approaches that seek to inform citizens and public opinion of what can be realistically achieved, leading to realistic national projections as in the case of recent unemployment forecasts and the need to give priority to creating employment opportunities.

Here, it must be emphasised that the government must work to execute the recently adopted recommendations of the National Human Resources Committee. These recommendations have a profound impact on building a promising future for our generations and providing them with decent work opportunities. They also contribute towards the development of schools, higher education as well as vocational and technical training.

Comprehensive reforms require establishing and promoting an integrated matrix of human rights that balance national rights and duties according to laws, policies and best practices, as well as create advanced partnerships with relevant stakeholders, including civil society organisations. In this regard, the Comprehensive National Plan on Human Rights must be implemented through the executive programmes and timeframes detailed in it. These will contribute decisively towards consolidating human rights in our dear country.

Your Excellency,

The challenges, Jordan and its generations face today, have been exacerbated by the Syrian refugee crisis. What Jordan has excreted in meeting the burdens of this challenge exceeds all standards. Therefore, efforts must be mobilised to ensure the level of support needed for Jordan, in order to mitigate the implications of the Syrian refugee crisis on the economic, developmental and security levels, in addition to providing the necessary support for our local communities and vital sectors.

We are very proud of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army and security agencies. They carry huge responsibilities to protect Jordan and its stability, acting as a shield against spiteful attempts on the country’s security. They have repeatedly demonstrated acts of heroism that deserve our deep respect and appreciation. They are a source of national confidence and they have Jordan’s full appreciation for their sacrifices. They must be provided with all forms of support to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities skilfully and excellently.

Your Excellency,

Jordan will remain steadfast in championing Arab and Muslim causes, at the forefront of which is the Palestinian cause, safeguarding Jerusalem and realising a just and comprehensive peace. We are keen to see the government exerting efforts in the next phase, to channel Jordan’s international position and respect as well as the various treaties that Jordan accomplished, in order to build on our international achievements in a way that reflects positively on our ability to meet challenges.

Jordan shoulders the responsibility of standing firmly against the terrorist outlaws, the khawarij, in defence of Islam, our societies and our generations’ right to lead peaceful lives not threatened by hate, sectarianism, violence and destructive ideologies. This is achieved through a holistic approach that confronts and uproots terrorism on the military, security and ideological fronts. Moreover, the government must continue leading a responsible and constructive foreign policy, honouring its international treaties and commitments and channelling its capabilities and international ties in service of just Arab and Muslim causes.

Your Excellency,

As I await the names of your Cabinet ministers, I hereby designate you and your colleague ministers as a caretaker government until the issuance of a Royal Decree approving the formation of the new Cabinet.

Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein